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FURLOUGH FRIDAY – POLITICO’s Darren Samuelsohn takes us into the Memorial Day weekend: “If four federal agencies closed their doors, would anyone notice? This is no philosophical experiment Friday when, thanks to sequestration, the IRS, EPA, HUD and OMB turn a normal workday into an unpaid holiday for nearly all of their employees. In all, about 115,000 people — roughly 5 percent of the federal workforce — won’t be on the clock for the day. Staffers for the Labor and Interior departments will also get an extra unpaid day for their Memorial Day weekend. It’s an important moment for Congress and the Obama administration as they continue to battle over mandatory budget cuts, that Democrats continue to warn will mean real consequences while most Republicans claim Democrats are just crying wolf.

-- “Republicans wanted to permanently close several government agencies during the 2012 presidential campaign. On Friday, they’ll get a partial victory when two departments they despise — the Internal Revenue Service and Environmental Protection Agency — take a timeout. ‘The more days the IRS is closed, the better our economy will probably do,’ Rep. Steve Scalise said. Of EPA, the Louisiana lawmaker who heads the conservative Republican Study Committee added, ‘I think China will be unhappy if the EPA closes down on Friday. That’s fewer jobs that they’ll be getting from us.’ Democrats see things a bit different. More than 830,000 federal employees have already been told they’ll need to take unpaid leave before the end of the fiscal year because of the sequester, and Friday brings the largest nonweather related partial government shutdown in recent memory.” http://politi.co/13O6ReE

“Wild, whacky world of House immigration talks,” POLITICO’s Jake Sherman and Seung Min Kim: “For the second time in two weeks, Democratic and Republican negotiators on immigration have emerged from meeting rooms on Capitol Hill, coyly saying some variation of ‘we’ve made progress’ or ‘we have a deal in principle’ — or dodging the press altogether. What lawmakers have discovered is that an agreement in principle means nothing when the principals don’t agree. It’s been a dizzying experience for everyone in the Capitol — from leadership on down — who hasn’t the faintest idea of what the group of eight lawmakers are doing behind closed doors. While the Senate is set to take up its bill next month that would provide for a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, the House talks have been a roller coaster of threats, unofficial statements and self-imposed deadlines. The irony of this process is that the House’s immigration bill will never become law — it’s only a vehicle to get to a conference negotiation with the Senate. In fact, many Democrats are hoping that the House bill implodes, leaving the Senate bill as the only viable option.” http://politi.co/13O6TmL

PROGRAMMING NOTE – Huddle will be off on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. We’ll see you back here on Tuesday. Have a safe weekend.

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OBAMA PIVOTS FROM WAR, SEEKS TO CURTAIL DRONES – Peter Baker writes on A1 of the New York Times: “Nearly a dozen years after the hijackings that transformed America, President Obama said Thursday that it was time to narrow the scope of the grinding battle against terrorists and begin the transition to a day when the country will no longer be on a war footing. Declaring that ‘America is at a crossroads,’ the president called for redefining what has been a global war into a more targeted assault on terrorist groups threatening the United States. As part of a realignment of counterterrorism policy, he said he would curtail the use of drones, recommit to closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and seek new limits on his own war power. In a much-anticipated speech at the National Defense University, Mr. Obama sought to turn the page on the era that began on Sept. 11, 2001, when the imperative of preventing terrorist attacks became both the priority and the preoccupation. Instead, the president suggested that the United States had returned to the state of affairs that existed before Al Qaeda toppled the World Trade Center, when terrorism was a persistent but not existential danger. With Al Qaeda’s core now ‘on the path to defeat,’ he argued, the nation must adapt. ‘Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘But this war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. It’s what our democracy demands.’

-- “The president’s speech reignited a debate over how to respond to the threat of terrorism that has polarized the capital for years. Republicans contended that Mr. Obama was declaring victory prematurely and underestimating an enduring danger, while liberals complained that he had not gone far enough in ending what they see as the excesses of the Bush era.” http://nyti.ms/Zi52e2

YOUR HUDDLE HOST headed to DHS headquarters Thursday for the unveiling of the official portrait of Tom Ridge, the former congressman, two-term Pennsylvania governor and first Homeland Security secretary. About 200 friends and past and present DHS staffers packed a white chapel at the Nebraska Avenue Complex, which formerly served as a seminary. The portrait was painted by artist Bob Anderson.

-- JANET NAPOLITANO, the current and third Homeland Security secretary, to Ridge: “You are really like the George Washington of the department. That makes me Thomas Jefferson. … The formal creation of DHS in 2003 represented the largest restructuring of the federal government in over 40 years. I think Secretary Ridge said it was like launching the biggest IPO ever, but Mr. Secretary, you accepted that challenge. … Secretary Ridge and Secretary Chertoff and I have met several times, and I sometimes refer to our group as the Three Amigos. We share a unique and special bond having been the only three secretaries of this department.”

-- RIDGE quoted former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, “who at his portrait unveiling said that ‘to anyone who’s served in Washington, there is something oddly familiar about the experience.’ ‘First,’ he said, ‘they paint you into a corner, then they hang you out to dry, and then they frame you.’ … I hope that years from now when people pass this portrait, they’re not going to remember one man, but they’re going to remember a starting point, the faces in this audience who helped see this man through…. So as you prepare to hang me … I will always be proud the president called and gave me an opportunity to be part of this endeavor. I will always feel privileged to be part of one DHS. … I will always feel good about those who rallied for their country and in doing so made my time there so fulfilling. …I will always cherish that out of the ashes, out of that horror of 9/11, we stood together, prayed together, we fought back together, and we became stronger as a country.” View the portrait here: http://bit.ly/11f8z75

TRANSITIONS: MULHAUSER JOINS EX-IM BANK – Capitol Hill veteran Scott Mulhauser has been named chief of staff of the Export-Import Bank, Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg will announce later today. Mulhauser spent a dozen years in senior roles for key Administration and Congressional leaders, most recently as a senior advisor to the Presidential Inaugural Committee and deputy chief of staff to Vice President Biden on the successful Obama-Biden 2012 reelection campaign. “Scott’s impressive talents and extensive experience are a great addition to Ex-Im Bank’s already-strong team,” Hochberg said. “Scott has delivered results in senior roles across Washington, and I am thrilled he is joining us to help the Bank with its mission to create U.S. jobs through exports.” Earlier, Mulhauser held senior roles on the Senate Finance Committee, and for members including Sens. Frank Lautenberg and John Breaux.

-- LESLEY LOPEZ marks her last day today as communications director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus under Chairman Ruben Hinojosa. She’s taking a new job as communications director at the National Immigration Forum, replacing Katherine Vargas who recently left to become White House Hispanic Media Director.

BONNER TO RESIGN FOR UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA JOB – Melissa Brown reports for AL.com: “As U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, announced he was leaving his position in Congress to take a job with the University of Alabama system, UA System Chancellor Robert Witt welcomed him to the team. Bonner will be joining UA System's senior leadership team in mid-August as vice chancellor for government relations and economic development. The job is a newly created position. … At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Bonner said he was not looking for a new job but was contacted by Witt less than a month ago about the new position. No one was more surprised than me,’ Bonner said. Bonner, 53, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1982 from the University of Alabama, and UA’s College of Communications named him an Outstanding Alumnus in 2000. Witt nominated Bonner's older sister, Judy Bonner, for the University of Alabama presidential position in October 2012 following the abrupt exit of then-President Guy Bailey. Bonner said Wednesday the job was independent of his sister.” http://bit.ly/18nnCBM

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @GordonGrayDC and @digitalbshaw.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – Both the House and Senate are out today and will not be in session all next week for the Memorial Day recess.

LERNER REFUSES TO RESIGN, PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE – Kelsey Snell, Rachel Bade, David Nather report for the hometown paper: “Lois Lerner isn’t leaving the IRS without a fight. The civil servant who has found herself at the center of the agency’s tea party-targeting scandal was placed on administrative leave Thursday. The move came a day after Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member of the tax writing Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday that Lerner was placed on administrative leave after she refused a request from Danny Werfel, the newly installed acting IRS commissioner, to resign.

-- “‘My understanding is the new acting IRS commissioner asked for Ms. Lerner’s resignation, and she refused to resign,” Grassley said. ‘She was then put on administrative leave instead. From all accounts so far, the IRS acting commissioner was on solid ground to ask for her resignation.’ The IRS and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Werfel named Ken Corbin to be the new acting director of exempt organizations in a statement released Thursday that did not mention Lerner. Corbin was previously a deputy director in the agency’s wage and investment division. The shakeup suggests that Werfel is working to respond to the intense anger on Capitol Hill in the wake of the scandal. Lawmakers from both parties have called on Lerner to step down over the past week.” http://politi.co/1acY1dP

CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE? I-5 BRIDGE COLLAPSES OUTSIDE SEATTLE – “A chunk of Interstate 5 collapsed into the Skagit River near Mount Vernon on Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the icy waters and creating a gaping hole in Washington state’s major north-south artery,” The Seattle Times reports. “Officials said the highway will not be fixed for weeks at the very least. Rescuers pulled three people with minor injuries from the water after the collapse, which authorities say began when a semitruck with an oversized load struck a steel beam at around 7 p.m. That caused a massive piece of the northern side of the bridge to wobble, and then fall into the water, taking with it a gold pickup, its travel trailer and an orange SUV.” http://bit.ly/16dTQSW

GRASSLEY CHIEF QUITS TO RUN FOR IOWA SENATE SEAT – The Iowa Republican’s Craig Anderson reports: “TheIowaRepublican.com has learned that David Young, Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Chief of Staff, has submitted his resignation and plans to officially enter Iowa’s U.S. Senate race sometime in June. Currently no Republican has officially entered the race, but former U.S. District Attorney Matt Whitaker and State Senator Joni Ernst are expected to do so shortly. Young was in Iowa for a week in late April and reached out to a number of Republican donors and activists. Sources also indicate that he is in the process of purchasing a home in Van Meter, which is in Dallas County. His association and relationship with Grassley could give him an advantage over the competition in a number of areas, most importantly fundraising. TheIowaRepublican.com has also learned that Young has already secured the key components for a statewide campaign. Sara Taylor Fagen, an Iowa native and former Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs and Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush, will serve as his general consultant. Young’s pollster will be The Tarrance Group, of which Grassley has been a client for years and which has provided services for Congressman Tom Latham, Congressman Steve King, and former Congressman Greg Ganske.” http://bit.ly/10oYAR4

MARKEY MISSES VOTES, DESPITE LIGHT SCHEDULE – Joshua Miller writes on A1 of the Boston Globe: “Senate hopeful Edward J. Markey, who has faced scrutiny for his light schedule of public campaign appearances, has not cast a vote in Congress since May 9, missing the last 40 votes before the chamber, according to records from the Clerk of the House. This week, Markey missed voting on 23 matters, including legislation to approve the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project he has said he strongly opposes. Markey also did not vote at all last week, when he had few public campaign events from Tuesday through Friday, the days the House voted. Despite being in Washington for two events on Wednesday of last week, he missed all 17 votes before the chamber that week. Markey has called his vote in ­favor of President Obama’s health care legislation ‘the proudest vote of my career.’ But among the votes he missed last week were ones relating to GOP legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Sitting members of Congress ­often miss votes in the weeks before an election.

-- “What’s less typical is taking time away from Washington,but not packing a schedule with public campaign events back home. Markey spokesman Mark Horan defended the congressman in a statement, saying he is campaigning hard, just not always in the public eye.” http://b.globe.com/10WDI3j

SENATE CONFIRMS D.C. CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE FOR FIRST TIME IN 7 YEARS – Nina Totenberg reports for NPR: “For the first time in seven years, the U.S. Senate has confirmed a judge to sit on the important federal appeals court for the District of Columbia. The Senate unanimously confirmed Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan on Thursday for the seat previously held by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Srinivasan was confirmed because he had huge bipartisan support in the legal community and because he served in both the Bush and Obama administrations, while having no record in partisan politics. But the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia still has three vacancies. Two previous Obama appointees, Goodwin Liu and Caitlin Halligan, also had stellar legal credentials but were filibustered by Republicans who portrayed them as judicial activists. Halligan was opposed primarily because as New York solicitor general, she represented the state's pro-gun control positions in court. After Liu's nomination was blocked, California Gov. Jerry Brown quickly nominated him to the California Supreme Court, where he now serves.” http://n.pr/12AMrGF

THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Tom Flanagin was first to correctly answer that Rep. Jonathan Fisk was behind the effort to move the capital to Philadelphia following the burning of Washington during the War of 1812.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – Flanagin has today’s question: Who’s credited with formalizing the White House daily press briefing and under which administration did it occur? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

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